Wishful Hearts
Tracing the edge of the black pine trees, Kagura lolled in the curve of her feather.
And for the first time in days, rather than a frown, her full lips puckered into a smile. He might not do it much himself, but just the thought of Sesshomaru made her soul light. He could make her smile without even being there. It was delicious, it was delightful, it was…dangerous.
Uh-oh…
She was in it deep.
Crap.
Fear was good. Fear kept you alive. Anger was acceptable. Anger kept you motivated. But this infatuation? H-e-l-l no. It made you stupid and if you were stupid you might as well be dead. Gods, Kagura knew the stories. How foolish women snuck off to see their secret lovers and just ended up with a hole in their guts. That would not be her. She had plans for herself, once she was free she would go places, and pretty-boy was the key.
She tightened her hair piece, patting the feathers into place.
.
The wind witch spiraled down until she just skimmed over the next hill. Although she was just mere inches off the ground, Kagura didn't land. Her hand extended to stroke the rippling sea of green grass rushing beside her. Then her fingers caught a stem. On a whim, she pulled. Calling the gales back under, the she soared up into the skies to examine her catch.
"A dandelion." Bright eyes examined the perfect, gauzy sphere of seeds. She'd heard that young maidens blew on these for wishing. "That's a load." But then didn't she also wish for freedom? What was the harm in that? The corners of her mouth curled and she fought to force it down.
Painted lips parted, she breathed out.
Sesshomaru studied the tiny seedling that had caught in his hair. The tuff on it betrayed it as an immature form of a dandelion. Rin once told him if one blew out a full head in a single breath a wish would be granted.
"Frivolous."
Holding it just by the tips of his claws, he extracted a second seed from his bangs and flicked both back into the wind.
Kagura's vision cleared and she tried to focus on something, anything, before the pain made her groggy again and the free world would be lost to her forever.
Her eyes scanned the area. She was alone, with the exception of the flowers in this field. Before her swayed a single dandelion, its head puffy and white. Just like her, ready to die. Ready for one last wish.
So the folly of my life boils down to this?
Well, what was one last frivolity?
She pursed her lips and prepared to inhale…then gasped at the sudden jolt of pain. In the wake of her ragged breath only a few seedlings took flight. The wish was foiled and incomplete. Damn, would Naraku steal even that from her?
None one would be here when she died. No one would remember. Her last wish would go unheard, unfulfilled. Not even one last glimpse at…
Sesshomaru brushed the white, fluffy debris from his breastplate. Dandelion fuzz again. How irritating. It was almost as bad as that wide-eyed stare Kagura was giving him. Perhaps if the daiyokai could have understood the shock on her face, he would have realized that two out of two were pretty good odds. Maybe then - Sesshomaru tried not to wince at the sight of Kagura's disintegrating form - he would have done a little more wishing himself.